70-yr-old dies of cardiac arrest while getting medicines at GTB Hospital

A mad rush and lack of timely help took the life of a 70-year-old man at Delhi's Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTBH) on Saturday.

The old man reportedly entered the pharmacy, along with a rush of hundreds of patients. While trying to get medicine at the earliest, several patients pushed him, which caused him to fall to the floor and die of a cardiac arrest.

The deceased, Harkesh Chand, a resident of Ashok Nagar, had gone to the hospital to get medicines for his grandson.

As the doors opened, Chand entered with the crowd. Some people pushed him, owing to which he fell down. It has been stated that he was run over by the crowd after which he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Following this, a passer-by helped the old man get up and took him away from the crowd.

"Security guards deputed at the pharmacy counter did not pay any heed to help the patient," said a nursing orderly.

According to a security supervisor at GTB Hospital, there were no security staff present at that moment.

Meanwhile, the security personnel stated that their duty starts from 8 am, while the old man died around 7.30 am. The medical superintendent of the hospital was not available for comment.

"Harkesh Chand entered the hospital along with a huge crowd and he fell down. Some people also ran over him in order to get the medicine first. This might have caused his death as he was too old to bear the load of others on his body. A cardiac arrest could also be a possibility. Had he been helped or taken to the emergency ward, his life would have been saved. We could only reach the hospital after the women who took him out of the crowd contacted us. We took him to the emergency. By then, it was too late and the doctor declared him dead," said Dinesh Kumar, nephew of the deceased.

"Mad rush is a daily routine at GTB hospital pharmacy block. Every morning, a good number of patients or their attendants stand outside the pharmacy block and when the counter opens everyone rushes to reach the counter window," said Nikhat Ansari, a patient at GTB Hospital.

A GTB senior official said: "The hospital pharmacy staff has been raising the demand to expand the premises or shift to another premise where several patients can take medicine without any hassle. Despite so many reminders, the administration has not paid any heed to their concerns.